STATE BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS: Seven county teams remain alive. SPORTS, 14-16
March 3, 2022 | Vol. 21, No. 9 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $1.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
Woodbridge, Potomac Shores eyed for new stadium By Daniel Berti
Times Staff Writer
PHOTO BY DOUG STROUD
Linda Davidson crosses students on their way to Loch Lomond Elementary School in Manassas. Davidson has been helping Prince William County kids get to school safely for 45 years.
Crossing kids across the decades
As crossing-guard jobs become harder to fill, 2 women share what’s kept them at it since the 1970s By Cher Muzyk
Contributing Writer
With shiny whistles at the ready and warm smiles on their faces, Linda Davidson and Brenda McFarland have helped Prince William County kids cross busy streets to get to and from school safely for decades. Fixtures in their neighborhoods, Davidson, 76, has been a crossing guard for 45 years, and if that’s not astounding enough, McFarland, 78, celebrated 50 years of service to our community on March 1. The women have similar stories; both became crossing guards while they were young mothers and wanted to earn extra money while their young children were at school. McFarland started with the Prince William County Police Crossing Guard Unit on March 1, 1972. Davidson joined the unit just under five years later on February 21, 1977. Both say they have enjoyed the flexibility the job offers and summers off to be with their families. Davidson and McFarland had so much in common that they became fast friends, and their friendship has strengthened over the years. In fact, they so enjoyed working together that they changed locations together as needs changed at local schools. “The best thing about the job was when I met [Davidson] because we became best friends, and we have been ever since. We have so much in common. It has been a joy
Three sites in Northern Virginia are being considered for a proposed new stadium and commercial complex for the Washington Commanders, including two in Prince William County. Television news station WUSA9 said it acquired documents titled “Washington Football Team Master Plan Workshop” dated Dec. 22, 2021, that outlined three options for a Northern Virginia stadium complex: one at Potomac Shores in Dumfries, another near Telegraph Road in Woodbridge and a third in Sterling, in Loudoun County. All three sites include plans for a 700,000-square-foot, 16-acre stadium, outdoor and indoor training facilities and team offices, a 14,000-seat amphitheater, hotels and a conference center, residential buildings and mixedused retail including nightlife, the report said. State Sen. Scott Surovell, D-36th, confirmed the accuracy of the report on Friday, Feb. 25, telling Prince William Times he has reviewed plans for a potential stadium at all three sites. See STADIUM, page 4
Supervisors cut Bi-County Parkway from long-term plan By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
Crossing guards and best friends, Brenda McFarland, left, and Linda Davidson, have served as Prince William County crossing guards for decades. knowing her and continuing to know her,” McFarland said. Both Davidson and McFarland have spent their entire careers serving schools in Manassas. McFarland’s first post was Yorkshire Elementary, where she worked until students there began being bused to school. She then spent a few years working at different locations, including Sudley Elementary. Davidson began at West Gate Elementary, where she spent five years. When two spots opened up at Sinclair Elementary, McFarland and Davidson snapped them up and then spent the next 34 years working together at crossings there. See CROSSING, page 6
County has ‘low’ COVID-19 community level. Page 2
In a surprise move, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors agreed unanimously Tuesday to remove the controversial Bi-County Parkway from the county’s ongoing comprehensive plan update. The move was made by Board Chair Ann Wheeler, D-At Large, at the beginning of the board’s March 1 meeting, and came less than a week after the county’s transportation planning staff first revealed a draft of the mobility chapter of the comprehensive plan that included a proposed “Va. 234 bypass North.” The planned road would extend the existing Va. 234 north beyond Interstate 66 along Pageland Lane to the Loudoun County line. During the Feb. 23 work session, county planners said
Looking back: Prince William County’s role in religious freedom. Page 11
Board of Supervisors Chair Ann Wheeler, D-At Large they would seek the supervisors’ approval to add the bypass, formerly known as the Bi-County Parkway, back into the county’s comprehensive plan later this year. In a statement to the Prince William Times the next day, Wheeler said she supports analyzing local road improvements that would address rising traffic on rural back roads in western Prince William County, including Pageland Lane, Gum Springs Road and Sanders Lane. See PARKWAY, page 7
88 DULLES, VA